The NYPD is running criminal checks on domestic-violence victims so cops can have leverage if the accuser gets cold feet about pressing charges, a police source told The Post yesterday.

“You’re trying to close the case, but your complainant becomes uncooperative,” the source said. “Your supervisor says, ‘Get her in here, and remind her that she has an open warrant,’ ” the source said. “They want us to use that as leverage to force them to remain cooperative.”

The Post yesterday revealed that Chief of Detectives Phil Pulaski’s March 5 memo ordered cops to run criminal background checks — including an open warrant check — on complainants as well as the accused in domestic-violence cases.

Investigators warned that the new edict will deter women from reporting abuse because of fear they will face arrest for something as minor as unpaid parking tickets.

“We all think it is insane,” said a police source.

City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens) — chair of the Public Safety Committee — wrote a letter to Pulaski yesterday saying, “I believe that a policy that could potentially lead to the arrest of a victim of domestic violence is misguided.

“I ask you to reconsider immediately and issue a more targeted policy which makes it clear that the purpose of gathering this information is to better assess the situation and not to make arrests.”

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne insisted the directive does not require arrests of domestic-violence victims with warrants. He said researching victims’ backgrounds is “standard practice and policy . . . to help lead them to the victims’ assailants.”

New York Civil Liberties Union chief Donna Lieberman sarcastically asked, “First a woman is abused by her partner, and then she’s abused by the NYPD when she turns to them for help? If we gave out knucklehead awards, this would definitely be at the front of the line.”

Connie Neal, head of the New York State Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said the directive likely “will increase fear and reduce safety if victims of domestic violence feel that they cannot call for help when they most need it.”